Of Pumpkin Patch And Painted Cows
by E Salvatore
Summary: Childhood friends and (somewhat) new lovers Peter and Olivia haven't celebrated Halloween in ten years. Boy, are they in for a ride. His father is a mad scientist, there's a cow in the lab and she might be seeing unicorns. Just like old times. Set in the Of Eggnog & Festive Flirting 'verse but feel free to skip that and settle in for some AU Polivia fluff.


**OF PUMPKIN PATCH AND PAINTED COWS**

**Childhood friends and (somewhat) new lovers Peter and Olivia haven't celebrated Halloween in ten years. Boy, are they in for a ride. His father is a mad scientist, there's a cow in the lab and she might be seeing unicorns. Just like old times. Set in the Of Eggnog & Festive Flirting 'verse but feel free to skip that and settle in for some AU Polivia fluff.**

* * *

Olivia comes home one day to a brightly-lit apartment, music playing in the background and the heavenly aroma of a home-cooked meal.

That last one is the only way to tell that it isn't some random guy who's broken into her home but Peter, her childhood best-friend and boyfriend. Making her way through the living room, pausing only to shrug off her coat and jacket, she calls out to announce her presence. "I'm home!"

"In the kitchen, snookums!' She laughs. It isn't all that unusual to find Peter in her home, rifling through her music collection and cooking in her kitchen. The pet-names are a nice touch, too. This has been happening almost daily ever since she had given him a key months ago.

This is his escape from Walter.

And a way to pretend that he's not living in his childhood home with his parents because nearing the age of thirty, that's just embarrassing.

She leans against the kitchen doorway, taking in the scene before her. Two glasses of wine, one half-filled, sit on the table with a bottle of red. Plates and cutlery have been taken out and set up. Peter, looking utterly domestic with a dishtowel over his right shoulder, is scooping out pasta onto a serving plate.

"A girl could get used to this," She speaks up, moving to pour herself a glass of wine. Dinner in hand, Peter turns around.

"That's the plan," He tells her nonchalantly. Setting the pasta on the table, he draws her in with one hand and places a quick kiss on her lips. "Hi."

"Hi," Olivia grins, resting her forehead against his for the briefest of moments before pulling back. She moves around him to get the salad and they're soon seated.

"What did Walter do this time?" She asks knowingly, watching him serve dinner. She'd try to help but past attempts have taught her better. Peter has this idea in his head of doing all the little things for her. _Because you're so fiercely independent and downright stubborn when it comes to everything else_, he'd once told her.

He smiles, amused. "Let's see. There was that one part when he decided to animate a skeleton _in the spirit of Halloween, Peter_!" Olivia stares at him wide-eyed. "Oh, and let's not forget that bit when he spiked everyone's coffee with something he calls Pumpkin Patch, patch referring to weed, apparently."

"_And then_," Peter's tone tells her this is going to be a good one. "He tried to paint a mural. Of a graveyard. On Gene."

Olivia almost loses her grip on her fork. "Did he-?"

"Wouldn't know, sweetheart. Hightailed it out of there before poor Astrid could even start to talk him down. Patience of a saint, that girl."

It's true. Despite Walter being his own father, even Peter can't put up with him and his insanity most days. Olivia herself had grown up with the man as a father-figure and she still snapped at him some days, albeit rarely. But Astrid, sweet Junior Agent Astrid Farnsworth, brightest in her class Astrid, too qualified and talented Astrid, who's barely known Walter for three years… as Peter said: patience of a saint. And the heart of an angel, too. Olivia has no idea if the Fringe Team would've even lasted long enough for Peter to join them earlier this year if not for Astrid and her endless patience and assistance.

They could go on and on about wonderful Astrid for hours, so Olivia decides to go with something slightly more pressing. "What's with the sudden Halloween spirit? Walter hasn't gone this crazy since-"

"Junior year when he created those 'dancing corpses'?" Peter guesses with a laugh. "Yeah, tell me about it. I got to the lab this morning and it was an explosion of pumpkins and plastic bones. Just like that. Says it's the first Halloween I've been home for in years and he's not going to let it pass quietly. Something like that." He shrugs, stabbing a forkful of salad.

Olivia washes down some pasta with a swig of wine. "That's true, though. We've missed lots of Halloweens. Actually, I'm pretty sure junior year was the last time I actually celebrated Halloween."

"I'm pretty sure most people involved that year would say the same," Peter shudders. "God, that was nuts. I've been done with Halloween ever since," He tells Olivia.

"Same here. I mean, Walter usually gets a pumpkin or two and of course it's as good a reason for him to demand some treat or another as any else, but that's about it. That's been it for years now."

"Guess it's time to prepare ourselves for another round of Bishop's House of Horrors, then." Peter grins.

"You say that like it's a good thing." Olivia mutters.

"Anything that gets you into a costume is, Dunham. Remember that one time you went as Goldi-" Peter is interrupted as a forkful of pasta is forcefully shoved into his mouth.

"Not a word, Bishop." Olivia growls. Peter makes quick work of the food in his mouth and swallows.

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

"Hey, you left early this morning." Olivia smiles as she breezes into the tiny office she shares with Peter.

"Walter called. Around 4. He _absolutely had to _have candy corn _right then_. There was no way he could wait. It was of utmost importance and incredibly urgent." He informs her, utterly serious.

"Hmm," Olivia hums in acknowledgement, picking up the cup of coffee Peter had set onto her desk. She gives him a quick smile and a 'thanks' over the rim of the still-warm cup. "What for?" She asks a moment later.

Peter eyes her contemplatively. "Why don't you go ask Gene?" He finally suggests.

Olivia raises an eyebrow. "Do I want to know?" She sets the cup down and picks up a file, sitting down to face Peter.

"Two words: flavored hay."

"You left my bed at four in the morning to get candy corn for _Gene_?" She questions incredulously. Peter's eyes widen.

"Well, when you put it that way…" He quickly stands up and pops his head into the lab.

"Walter, no more calling me before I get home in the mornings!" He tells his father from across the lab. Walter looks up from the beaker he's observing, taking in a less than amused Peter and a certainly amused Olivia standing behind him.

"Oh." He exclaims suddenly. "_Oh_. Certainly not, son! I am very glad you are pursuing a healthy, active sexual relationship with Olivia and will not-"

Peter slams the door shut. Olivia's laugh can be heard shortly after.

It really is wonderful that they're together, Walter thinks. He wonders if he'll get a grandchild soon. One here by next Halloween would be preferable. He's already been waiting for ten years now.

Oh, Elizabeth would be ever so happy…

* * *

"Peter," Olivia breaks their comfortable silence urgently. He looks up from the list of names he'd been crossing off to find her looking pale, clammy and out of sorts. He's out of his chair and by her side in five seconds.

"'Livia?" He grasps her right hand with his left, the other sweeping across her forehead. She feels fine…

"Peter, shh… there." Olivia nods her head to indicate the corner his back had been facing earlier. "Look."

It's an empty corner.

"Sweetheart, are you alr-?"

"Shh, don't scare it off. This really tops it all, Peter. I was just thinking it doesn't get any weirder than this…" Olivia whispers in hushed, urgent tones.

"Olivia, I really don't –"

"I wonder where it came from. How? A mutation?"

He wonders if she's seeing into the other side, the way she used to when they were children. It's possible. He begins to tug at her hand, trying to get her up on her feet. They need to get to Walter. _Now_.

"Oh, Peter, isn't it beautiful?"

There really is no way around this. And he's worried.

"Isn't what beautiful, Olivia?"

Olivia turns to face him in bewilderment.

"The unicorn, Peter."

Peter stumbles, one hand reaching out to grip the table for stability. His fingers brush the nearly-empty cup of coffee he'd bought her. Black, one sugar… left unattended in Walter's care for two minutes earlier this morning when he had turned his back to search for a file…

Damn it.

* * *

"Perhaps we should let her sleep it off."

"That's the best you can do, Walter? You drugged my girlfriend with an unknown, potentially dangerous drug cocktail of your creation and all you can do is tell her to sleep it off?" Peter nearly growls.

"Oh!" Walter exclaims.

"_Oh_ what?" Peter demands, fists balled up.

"She _is _your girlfriend, Peter. Perhaps you could help her sweat it out. Coitus has been-"

Peter walks over to Olivia, who's resting in a chair. "Sleep it off, sweetheart. You'll feel better soon."

Olivia nods and closes her eyes obediently. He almost sighs in relief.

Almost.

She starts counting.

"One electrical sheep, two electrical sheep, three electrical sheep…"

This day sucks.

* * *

"Peter, Peter!" Walter bursts into the office hours later, just as Olivia, who'd decided to sleep in her chair with her head and arms resting on her desk, starts to wake.

"Oh," Walter stage-whispers. "I hope I didn't wake her." Olivia's hands move to cover her face as she sits upright.

"Here, let her drink this." He instructs Peter, giving him a warm test tube of steaming _something_ before wandering off. Peter eyes the liquid suspiciously and wonders if it's safe to pour down the drain. He's quickly distracted when Olivia opens her eyes.

"Peter?"

"I'm right here, 'Livia," He reassures her, one hand reaching across the desk for hers. He intertwines their fingers. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just moved a dozen encyclopedias across a room." She gives him a small smile. It's code for them. When they were kids, before everything became _more_ but after she'd come to live with them, Olivia had worked on her telekinesis with a supportive Peter. Walter had encouraged her silently but didn't push her, knowing that using her abilities usually came with side-effects such as migraines, fainting spells and nausea.

The children ignored this little bit of information and Olivia soldiered on. Before long, they'd developed a grading system. Moving a dozen encyclopedias across a room fell somewhere in the middle. It meant she felt like crap, but she'd deal.

He didn't like that, knowing that Olivia was in pain but would live with it as if it was no big deal. He didn't like it then and he doesn't like it now.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. Walter spiked your coffee. I turned my back on him for two minutes…"

Olivia squeezes his hand. "It's okay, Peter." She says softly – weakly. "At least I'm all caught up on sleep. It's going to be a long night so that's good." She's trying to distract him, trying to make the best of it to keep him from worrying. He hates the way she feels the need to protect everyone when she's hurt, but it's one of those Olivia Dunham things. Things he can't change, not yet.

"Long night, you say?" He smirks instead, doing what they do best: banter and flirtation. It's a Bishop-Dunham thing.

"Head out of the gutter, Bishop. We've got a case to solve." She begins tidying up her table, ready to get back to work.

He stops her from getting to her feet just in time. "Woah, easy there, 'Livia." He gives her a gentle push that sends her back into her seat.

"Work, Peter." She scowls, files in hand.

"Rest, Olivia." He mimics. She swats his arm with the files.

"You hurt me so, sweetheart." He rolls his eyes. "Seriously. Rest, 'Livia. I'll go check on Walter and Astrid, see what we've got, okay?" She doesn't want to back down; doesn't want to rest; doesn't want to be taken care of. But she sees the worry and care in his eyes. This is what it means to be with Peter, she supposes. Giving in once in a while and letting him take care of her after his father drugs her coffee with a special drug.

She fights a smile. "Fine," She sighs, leaning into his touch when he presses a light kiss to her forehead.

"Thank you," He murmurs, tucking a lock of stray hair behind her ear. "I'll go deal with the crazies out there now."

"Try not to get drugged," She calls after him.

It's sort of funny.

* * *

She gets restless within ten minutes of Peter leaving her alone. There really is nowhere to go with this case, not right now. So she gets up and decides to venture outside. Who knows, maybe Peter really has been drugged.

Before she can wrap her fingers around the doorknob though, she hears a distinct _moo_. Gene.

There's a second _moo_ as she steps out of her office. It's odd. Gene usually keeps quiet, except for when Walter milks her… every morning before they get into the lab, though. A third _moo_ is heard as the lab comes into view. This is definitely unusual.

And then she sees why.

Peter is nowhere to be seen, but she almost misses that in light of the shocking scene in front of her. She can hardly believe her eyes.

"Walter!" She calls out as Astrid returns from the other end of the lab. Astrid begins to smile at her when she catches sight of the look on Olivia's face, then curiously follows her line of sight. Which is when she drops all of the files in her hand to the ground.

The door shuts behind Peter at that moment as he returns from wherever it is he had gone.

"Holy shit," He mutters under his breath as he comes to join their little speechless duo. Walter looks up at the sound of Peter's arrival and smiles at them.

"Doesn't she look wonderful?" He beams, paintbrush in hand. "Yes, you do, Gene!"

Astrid speaks up in her usual tactful way. "I'm not sure wonderful is the most accurate word, Walter…"

"Yeah," Olivia chokes out. Peter keeps silent to refrain from voicing his true sentiments. _No, Walter, it's not wonderful._

_It's a freaking graveyard painted onto a cow!_

* * *

Once they've washed off poor Gene and cleaned out most of Walter's Halloween experiments, everyone decides it's time to go home and regroup tomorrow.

Peter decides to drive Walter home to his mom before going to Olivia's, so she sets out first and picks up some take-out from his new favorite place around, Damiano's. He gets there just as she's setting up the food and they eat in peace, with the occasional disbelieving remark about Walter's many wacky doings tossed in.

A little later, as they settle into bed – it's somehow gotten quite late and between being drugged and cleaning up a cow, they're both exhausted – Peter picks up the paper from this morning and starts going through the real estate section.

"Hey, 'Livia?" He begins casually, unsure of how she'll take this. Sure, they've known each other their whole lives and practically been in love with each other for a decade, give or take, but when it comes down to it, the fact remains that they've been together-together for less than a year. It doesn't change how he feels about her, how sure he is about them, but then again, he's always been the impulsive one. Olivia is the reasonable, level-headed one. The one who might not think this is the best of ideas. But still.

"Hmm?" She doesn't look up from her book.

"What do you… should we… do you want to get a house?" He finally blurts out. She looks up from her book then.

"Peter…" She regards him, wide-eyed. He feels like hitting his head against a wall. _Great going, Bishop. Real smooth_.

But then she takes him by surprise. She always does.

"You know you could just move in if you really want to get away from Walter." She tells him casually, as if it should be obvious.

"Really? I… I mean, no. Yes. I-" He stops himself, takes a deep breath. This is not him. This is not him at all. But basically telling the love of your life that you'd like to have a white-picket fence and three kids and a puppy with her isn't his usual deal, either.

"It's not just to get away from Walter." He finally says, meeting her confused and curious eyes. "What we have, sweetheart… it's just going to grow. And I want it to. I want us to grow, and live together, and get a house with bedrooms and bathrooms and spare rooms and-"

"Nursery?" Olivia adds casually, softly. He freezes up. So she _does _know what he's getting at. Olivia always did know him best… but wait. Nursery. Kids. She wants that too? Now?

"Nursery?" He echoes, unable the keep the hope and joy out of his single spoken word. The smile he's trying to fight keeps tugging at his lips.

There's a long moment where they're both looking into each other's eyes, looking for something they should've seen a long time ago. And then she nods.

"Nursery."

He finally lets himself smile when she does and reaches over for him. Another beat, another moment of searching – and then finding – that _something _in each other's eyes, and then she presses her lips to his, kisses him the way a bride kisses her groom for the very first time.

Like it's the start of forever.

* * *

The next morning, as they prepare to face the day – just five more minutes, and then they'll be up and at it – she leans into his touch, lets his arms wrap around her waist.

"Walter got to you, didn't he?" She says knowingly.

"Yeah, talked about grandchildren and you calling him Dad and how Olivia Bishop has a nice ring to it." He mumbles, half-asleep.

"I'm keeping the Dunham." She decides, saying yes to a question that he'll ask in a few months' time when he's awake and presentable and ready with grand words and a ring.

"I love you," He tells her anyway, because he knows what she's saying.

"I love you too, Peter."

* * *

**~ HAPPY HALLOWEEN! ~**

* * *

**Why do I feel like these Halloween pieces are an epic failure? It's 90% fluff and 10% Halloween. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing… but still.**

**Yeah, I slipped in the 'nursery' moment. Didn't plan to, didn't think of it, just happened, don't ask me how. I'm happy though. There's no such thing as too much Polivia fluff and Lord knows there hasn't been enough. So there.**

**That's it for our Fringe Halloween Specials this year, folks! Thanks for sticking around. For more Fringe from me, check out some of my older works and keep your eyes peeled for TWO very different 5x04 multi-chaps coming soon, a possible Thanksgiving piece and some Christmas works for the festive season. **

**Reviews feed the writing frenzy!**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**October 2012.**_


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